“I urinate more than ten times during the day, and five or six times at night. The frequent urination is very troublesome, may I ask why I have frequent urination?” Ms. Wang said in distress.
First, let’s see what factors are related to frequent urination?
1. Frequent urination caused by urinary system infections
If “frequent urination” is accompanied by urgency, urinary pain, or even blood in the urine, it is common in infectious diseases of the urinary system, such as acute cystitis, urethritis, etc. Diagnosis can be confirmed through urine routine and urine bacterial culture. At this time, patients should drink more water, rest, and receive a certain antibiotic treatment, which can relieve the symptoms. If the course of the disease is prolonged and the symptoms are persistent, some special tests need to be performed to exclude diseases such as urinary tuberculosis, glandular cystitis, or bladder tumors.
2. Bladder, urethral, and surrounding lesions causing frequent urination
Bladder internal stones, foreign bodies, tumors can cause discomfort during urination and symptoms of frequent urination; Lesions around the bladder: uterine fibroids, pelvic abscesses, pregnant uterus can compress the bladder, causing symptoms of frequent urination; Lesions around the urethral meatus: urethral meatal polyps, hymen umbrellas, and paraurethral gland cysts can stimulate the urethral meatus causing frequent urination; Obstructive bladder outlet diseases such as female urethral stricture can cause decreased bladder expansion capacity due to the bladder detrusor muscle disorder and result in frequent urination. Once these diseases are diagnosed, they can be treated through surgical methods, and the symptoms of frequent urination can naturally disappear.
3. Neurogenic factors causing frequent urination
Neurogenic factors are also a major cause of abnormal urination, divided into central nervous system or peripheral nerve lesions. Patients may need examinations related to the nervous system and urinary dynamics, and when the doctor rules out organic lesions in patients, neurogenic symptoms such as overactive bladder syndrome, female urethral syndrome may be considered as causes of frequent urination. Patients with these conditions generally have anxiety, insomnia, tension, mental abnormalities, etc. In clinical practice, psychological counseling can be tried first, and taking calming and sedative medication to relieve symptoms. In addition, bladder function training is a very effective method for treating this type of frequent urination: the key point is not to go to the toilet as soon as you feel the urge to urinate, but deliberately divert attention from urination, change the compliance and sensitivity of the bladder through appropriate urine retention, gradually relieve or even cure frequent urination. Especially for children, during childhood, the bladder detrusor muscle and nervous system are not fully developed, and they need bladder function training to cultivate good urination habits and avoid frequent urination.
4. Interstitial cystitis
Interstitial cystitis is a clinical syndrome characterized by pelvic and/or perineal pain, frequent urination, and urgency. The main feature is long-term progressive urinary frequency and urgency, significant pain in the suprapubic area when the bladder is full, and sometimes pain in the urethra and perineum, which is relieved after urination. Due to the fear of storing urine in the bladder, the patient will go to the toilet frequently to relieve the pain.
For these patients, bladder hydrodistension diagnosis and treatment, bladder instillation, sacral nerve modulation, and other methods can be used for treatment.
If frequent urination occurs, the cause must be identified first and treatment tailored to different patients.
